Hanger support for wardrobe trunks



T. M. HOUSE. HANGER SUPPORT FOR WARDROBE TRUNKS. APPLICATION FILED NOV-23,1921.

1,416,030. P tented May 16, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

l I I T. M. HOUSE. HANGER SUPPORT FOR WARDROBE TRUNKS.

APPLICATION FILED NON-23,. l 92l.

Patented May 16, 1-922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

aftoz new en ries stares;

raiser anti-ca;

-' THOMAS M. Housn, i or RICHMOND, vmenv a.

HANGER SUPPORT FOR VTARDROBE TRUNKS;

Specification of Letterslatent.

Application filed November 23, 1921. Serial No. 517,250.-

To all whom it may concern: 5

Be it known that I, THOMAS M. HOUSE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond in the county of Henricoi and State of Virginia, have invented certain new these sections: containing a series or=stack1 of drawers and the OtllBI'SGCtlOll be ng provided at its upper endwith means for supporting a series ofcl othes. hangers, this means usually consisting o-f'oneor more foldable or telescopic brackets attached to the hanger section of the trunk and projecting out therefrom and foldable or telescopic to permit, thetrunk to be closed. a

It issometimes the case that the upper end of the hanger'section'of awardrobe. trunk, which is provided with a hinged lid or-portion constituting the end of this section, is reinforced by a U-shaped metal bar riveted or otherwise, attached to the thin wood of which the section is composed and intended to brace thesides and back of the sections against deformation. It has been found in actual practice that the sides when reinforced in this manner-are very liable to spring away from each other and thus prevent or iinpede the proper closing of this lid or hingedupper-end of the section.

One of the objects of my invention is to improve upon the bracket construction whereby the: hangers. are su-pported'by providing telescopic hanger brackets,v and further by so forming thelinner end of the outer section of this telescopic bracketthat when this outer section is forced inward it will act to lift the h angers. and allow them to slip over onto the outer section without impeding the inward. movement of the outer section of the hanger and without causing the hanger to catch, thisbei ng accomplished by forming the innerend of the outer shiftable hanger section diagonally to the longitudinal axis of the sect-ion'so that the hangers will be raised as the shiftable hanger section is forced inward and transferred onto this shiftable hanger section.

A further object of the invention is to I provide a combinedhanger bracket and reinforcing bar for the trunks which isapproximately U-shaped in plan to conform to the approximate U-shaped reinforcing mem her and so connected thereto as to embrace this reinforcing member to hold it rigidly in position and prevent the side walls of the trunk section from moving either away from each other or toward each other.-

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description. 5 My inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a wardrobe trunk having one formof my improved hanger support applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the re inforcing bar of the trunk and the hanger support connected thereto;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the construction shown'in Figure 2;

Figure 4g is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;- v

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5 -5 of Figure 3; ,7 t i t Figure 6 is a fragmentaiv top plan view Patented May 16,1922.

of thehanger section of'a wardrobe trunk I having another formof hanger support mounted thereon; p

Figure Tis a sectional view on the line 7-7 of Figure 6;

Figure 8' is a. section on the line 88 of Figure 6; i p I I Figure 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Figure 7. Y i

In Figures 611:0 9, I have illustrated a hanger supporting bracket which is to be riveted. or otherwise attached to the rear wall a of the trunk section A; and which consists of twosections 10 and 11. The section 10 is tubular and the sectionlltelescopes within the tubular section 10. The section 10 is formed of a strip of nietaltbent over a mandrel so as: to form a tubular portion having two downwardly extending, parallel flanges 12 defining a longitudinally extending slot 13. The rearend of the tubular section 10 is formed with outwardly projecting cars 14 pierced for the passage of rivets or other attaching devices. The forward. end of the section i0 is connected toan. angular bracket heavy flat metal.

15, one end of which is inserted between the ends of the flanges 12 and riveted or otherwise attached thereto by the transverse rivets 16.

The section 11 is preferably composed of a slide rod formed with a head 17 at one end and at its inner end having a radially extending pin 18. This pin operates within the slot 13 so as to prevent any rotation of the rod 11 within the tubular portion 10.

,. hangers which may be supported upon the rod 11, as this rod telescopes into the tubular member 10, so that the hooks of the hangers are caused to ride up over the section 10 as the rod 11 is forced inward. If the edge 19 were at right angles to the axis of the rod 11 and the tubular member 10, this edge would impede the rearward movement of the hooks on the clothes hangers and the hangers would jam and would not ride up easily over the tubular member. Preferably the tubular member 10 is attached to the trunk by means of a T-shaped plate 21, the head of which is perforated, as at 22, for the passage of the rivets extending through the ears 14, the vertical portion of the T-shaped plate being perforated for the passage of rivets 23 or like devices.

In Figures 1 to 5, I show another embodiment of my invention which is preferable to that shown in Figures 6 to 9. In these figures the hanger section A of the trunk is shown having applied to its upper end the approximately U-shaped reinforcing bar 24,

this bar being made of a strip of relatively This bar is one which is quite commonly found on wardrobe trunks for the purpose of reinforcing the upper end of the hanger section. Disposed above and inward of this bar 24 is a U-shaped reinforcing rod 25 shown as circular in cross section, the cross bar of this rod being parallel to the rear cross bar of the reinforcing iron 24 but being shorter than this reinforcmg iron, and the arm 26 of the bar 25 being disposed parallel to the arms of the reinforcing bar 24 but some distance inward of these arms. The rear and transversely extending portion of this rod 25 is supported by upwardly extending lug brackets 27 which are riveted or otherwise attached to the reinforcing bar 24 and which are welded or otherwise rigidly attached to the rod 26. The arms 26 are connected to the arms of the bar 24 adjacent the ends of the latter by means of brackets 28 which are U-shaped in form,

one arm of the bracket being riveted, as at 29, to the arm of the bar 24, the other arm of the bracket 28 being upwardly extended and welded or otherwise rigidly attached to the rod 25 adjacent the end of the arm.

Having sliding telescopic engagement with the arm 26 are the tubular members or extensions 30. These are each formed of a strip of metal bent upon a mandrel to form a tubular split sleeve and having depending flanges 31. The tubular member at its outer end is provided with the head 32 and the flanges 31 are riveted to each other at 33 and 34 respectively. It will be seen that this rivet 34 constitutes a stop when the tubular member 30 is drawn out, as itengages against the upwardly turned end of the bracket'28. Preferably a filling piece 35 is disposed in the end of the tubular member 30 and the rivet 33 passes through this filling piece 35. This filling piece maybe formed as part of the head 32 or welded or otherwise connected thereto, as desired.

It will be seen that the inner end of the tubular member 30 is disposed diagonally to the axis of the tubular member 30 and the axis of the arm 26, as at 36. This diagonal end edge is for the same purpose as the diagonal end edge 19 heretofore referred to of the tubularmember 10. In other words, as the tubular member 30 is shifted inward, it will be forced under the hanger hooks and cause these hanger hooks to be lifted upward onto the tubular member without impeding the movement of the tubular member.

It has been proposed to bevel the edge of the tubular member in supports of this character, but this beveling of the edge is relatively expensive and furthermore weakens the metal. By cutting the edge at an angle to the axis of the tubular member, as disclosed, the same result is accomplished with out weakening the material and at much less expense, as it permits the tubular member to be stamped out 011 the strip of metal by ordinary processes and without the necessity of manual labor being applied to form the beveled edge on the tubular member. It will be seen from Figure 4 that the tubular member 30 is held from any rotation relative to the corresponding arm 26 by reason of the fact that the upwardly extending arm of the bracket 28 extends through the slot of the tubular member and the flanges 31 bear on each side of this bracket .arm. The construction which is illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 provides not only for the support of clothes hangers, but also provides a brace for the reinforcing bar which prevents deformation of the relatively thin walls at the upper end of the hanger sect-ion of the trunk and prevents these walls from either being forced inward or springing outward so that the cover I) cannot be properly closed down over the section A. This is particularly necessary because of the fact that the wood from which the wardrobe trunks are made is relatively thin and, therefore, lacks strength, and because of the further fact that the upper end of the section A is not permanently closed but only covered by the lid or hinged top B which, of course, does not act to brace these walls.

I claim e In a wardrobe trunk, a hanger section open at its top, a hinged cover for said top, a substantially U-shaped reinforcing bar attached to the upper end of the hanger section and bearing against the inner face thereof, a substantially U-shaped rod disposed within the reinforcing bar, the transverse portion of said rod being disposed adjacent to and slightly above the transverse portion of the reinforcing bar, the arms of the 20 U-shaped rod being integral with the transverse portion thereof and being disposed inward of the arms of the reinforcing bar and extending parallel thereto, brackets rigidly connecting the transverse portion of said rod to the reinforcing bar at a plurality of points, brackets rigidly connecting the outer ends of the arms of the rod to the reinforcing bar and tubular members having telescopic engagement with the arms of the U-shaped member and adapted when drawn out, to form continuations thereof, said tubular members having their inner end edges disposed at an angle to the axis of the tubular member, and stops limiting the outward movement of the tubular members.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

THOMAS M. HOUSE. 

